ROP model-boat builders ready for another shot at Hawaii

Malcolm Wilson, who teaches 3-D model making in Regional Occupational Program classes at San Clemente High School, shows his students' latest project, Waldo, a 6-foot-6-inch, 75-pound monohull that will be launched at the end of February toward Hawaii.DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

A 3-D model-making class based at San Clemente High School has a new boat ready to sail the Pacific in the group's latest attempt to send a model vessel to Hawaii.

The Capistrano/Laguna Beach ROP class, led by instructor Malcolm Wilson of Capistrano Beach, has completed Waldo, a 6-foot-6-inch-long monohull sailboat made of foam and fiberglass, that the students plan to launch in late February from a charter boat on the far side of San Clemente Island. They hope Waldo will reach Hawaii.

Wilson began a series of such projects in his ROP classes in 2011 as a way for students to get hands-on experience and have their work be tested in real-world conditions. Each class in successive years has made design adjustments based on what happened with previous boats. The changes have led to a lead keel, a better hull, improved sail and steering design and a GPS tracker the class can use to keep tabs on their little craft.

The boats' rigging apparatus is designed to guide them on prevailing winds toward Hawaii. But none of the previous six student-built boats made it farther than San Clemente Island, about 60 miles southwest of their Capistrano Beach launch site.

The 75-pound Waldo has sail material donated from the Curlew, a Dana Point charter boat. Students attached the sails to the mast with a sleeve design and sewed in wood stiffeners, or battens, much like what a wind surfer would have. Other changes are sturdier connectors and wires to hold up the mast.

Waldo will be accompanied to sea by three boats that previously tried the trek – Kanaloa, Team America and Humuhumunukunukuapua'a – to try to improve the odds that at least one of them will make it to Hawaii.

While the class prepares to launch its newest creation, students met Tuesday afternoon at Capistrano Beach to send off the boat that started it all – Wilson, a 4-foot-long fiberglass trimaran named after the volleyball in the Tom Hanks movie "Cast Away."

"We retrofitted Wilson and made her seaworthy again," instructor Wilson said. "Really, this will be just for fun and old-school with no GPS, just to see where she'll go.

Malcolm Wilson, who teaches 3-D model making in Regional Occupational Program classes at San Clemente High School, shows his students' latest project, Waldo, a 6-foot-6-inch, 75-pound monohull that will be launched at the end of February toward Hawaii. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER
Regional Occupational Program instructor Malcom Wilson and student Patrick Glenn, 18, a San Clemente High School senior, are the leaders of the latest project by Wilson's model-making class to build a sailboat to send on a voyage toward Hawaii. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER
ROP students Patrick Glenn and Dylan Barker, both 18, walk out beyond the breakers Tuesday at Capistrano Beach as they launch Wilson, a 4-foot-long fiberglass trimaran first launched two years ago. Waiting on his longboard is student Lukas Buell, 17, standing by to recover an onboard video camera the class used to record the launch. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER
Waldo visits Capistrano Beach on Tuesday, about a month before the 6-foot-6-inch, 75-pound monohull sailboat will be launched from a charter boat on the far side of San Clemente Island. Waldo is the seventh model boat built by South County ROP students since 2011. While each has been launched, not one has reached the target destination of Hawaii. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER
About 40 students in Malcolm Wilson's Capistrano/Laguna Beach ROP model-making class built Waldo out of foam and fiberglass. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER
Capistrano/Laguna Beach ROP student Savannah Hartunian-Booth, 18, signs the model boat Waldo along with other students Tuesday at Capistrano Beach. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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